EOH Research Seminar: “Polycythemia Vera”
Research S
eminar Series of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
“Lessons learned from studying a cluster of Polycythemia Vera in Northeast Pennsylvania”
Paul I. Roda, MD, FACP
Geisinger/Hazleton Cancer Center
Location: New College Building, 8th Floor, Hem/Onc Conference Room, 245 N. 15th Street (Joint presentation with Drexel University College of Medicine)
Date: Tuesday, April 5
Noon — 1 PM
http://publichealth.drexel.edu/Home/Home/693/vobId__3363/
I was just diagnosed with Polycythemia and I live in Carbon County, PA. I was wondering if you know what is behind the cluster? I have two daughters with Lupus and I know it is from a cluster. We lived near a power plant in South Jersey. I would just like to know if there is a reason for this and I thought I’d give it a try by asking you. Thank you in advance for any information you can give me. I am a White, 49 year old woman, if that helps.
Thank you,
Wendi
Dear Wendi,
I’m sorry to hear of your P. vera and your daughters’ Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease. This means there is a problem with the body’s normal immune system response. The underlying cause of autoimmune diseases is not fully known.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001471/#adam_000435.disease.causes
Polycythemia vera is caused by an acquired mutation and some chemicals seem to cause it. I can’t say what is causing the cluster in Carbon, Luzerne and Schuylkill Counties because no link to anything has been found, in spite of the extensive environmental contamination in that area. However, an extensive study of the area is ongoing but it will probably be some time before we have definitive answers.
There is a Community Action Committee based in Tamaqua, PA which holds meetings to keep the public informed and offers support to P. vera victims. You can obtain more information from Joe Murphy [ jmmurph (at) verizon.net ]
More information can be found at
http://henryscoleassociates.blogspot.com/2010/04/cole-associates-awarded-cdc-contract-to.html
http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/7/3/1139/
http://www.hometownhazards.com/
I wish you and your family the best.
I am pushing for access to medical researchers who can move the concepts I have developed for my self into clinical practice, but have had no success todate. I will release medical records to any patient’s doctor who wants to see a medical history that started (at HCT 60+ and Neutrophils over 7 and positive for JAK mutation) with a phlebotomy every three weeks for a period of two and a half years just to stay under HCT 50 to a now stable HCT 40 for 2 years and a Neutrophil count of 3.5. My doctor is at Oregon Health Science University. I have some early notes on my web site POACCESS.COM. My phone is 503 780-8888/
My research has developed a new concept related to the presentation of blood related disorders. Since blood related disorders are involved in all illness I think it is significant. The evidence I have gathered from observing only one patient (me) was presented by my doctor (head of hematology at OHSU) and he admitted that my argument was becoming quite persuasive. I believe that Polycythemia Vera is not a mutation as is commonly believed; that taking supplements of minerals (especially iron) is one of the triggers; and that a healthy relationship between plasma in the blood stream and all the material that flows in the lymph system can be changed and reverse many negative medical outcomes with appropriate exercise (no more intense than walking).
Avoiding all plant and animal tissue where the molecular structures were not primarily produced by DNA is also important. Our food supply was generated by DNA of all life forms for more than 2 billion years based on the impact of the environment that existed. Molecular structures evolved to manage the relationship of energy and matter. Most life forms are location specific. A deer or elk relocated will often die because like all other ruminant animals (cow, goat, sheep, etc.) have access to nutrients only because the microbial populations that are involved in the plant tissue development also exist within their digestive tract giving them access to the nutrients. Only humans at the top of the food chain (2 billion years to produce energy-matter management structures) have mobility on earth. We lack the DNA necessary to produce most of the molecular structures needed to manage our own metabolism, but have gained advanced DNA qualities that let us acquire these molecular structures from the healthy tissue of plants and animals that allow us mobility denied all other life forms on earth.
If the JAK2v617f is not a mutation but a cell memory activation of genes needed to produce transport proteins in response to plasma content as my own experience suggests, then the difference in conditions with this “mutation” would be based on how these “foreign” proteins interact with tissue. With PV the neutrophil count increases to produce permeability in the blood vessels allowing the proteins to transport this “foreign” matter out of the plasma into the lymph flow. With Leukemia the lymphocytes must increase to dig the “foreign” matter (most likely proteins) out of adjacent tissue.
Either way the “foreign” proteins increase with slow lymph flow, with lowered levels of albumin (also dependent on lymph flow) in the plasma, and with water build up in the body needed to improve lymph flow when we fail to perform exercise needed to expand the diaphragm range of movement. The reduction of microbial proliferation produced when hydrogen ions are forced from biofilm into our blood stream for elimination by our lung tissue into the atmosphere also gets rid of a major source of “foreign protein.”
Bone marrow produces fewer lymphocytes and more RBC with PV but the focus on lymphocytes can result in low RBC levels in Leukemia. The highest priority task determines the type of cells produced. The JAK2v617f cell memory adaption is to enhance delivery of transport proteins at the expense of oxygen.
The hydrogen ion converts to short chain fatty acids when it is not forced into the blood stream for exhaust…this gives our heart access to short chain fatty acids that can be utilized for energy even when oxygen release is compromised. Allowing microbial proliferation to increase allows the delivery of proteins to become a priority even as oxygen delivery is slowed. The trap is the increasing “foreign proteins” in the blood plasma.
Hi! My husband is 38 years old and just tested positive for the jak2 mutation. We are now in the process of verifying exactly which MPN he has. He has worked as a security officer at the Salem/Hope Creek Nuclear Plant in Southern New Jersey for 11 years. Could this have anything to do with that? Thanks you in advance for advice on this matter.
I am not aware of specific information on a relationship between radiological exposures and positive JAK2 status.
There is one historical study (long before JAK2 genetic testing became available) suggesting a potential relationship between polycythemia vera and radiological exposures. (A person can be JAK2 positive and have no symptoms or diagnosed disease, but the majority of people who have true Polycythemia Vera are JAK2 positive – Does that make sense? I apologize if I just made that sound really confusing!) Caldwell et al in JAMA in 1984 noted two cases of Polycythemia Vera and two cases of suspected Polycythemia Vera among 3,217 nuclear test participants present during the detonation of a nuclear test device in 1957. The test participants were followed through 1981. The observed occurrence of four cases of Polycythemia Vera in a group this size significantly exceeded what was expected. However, the researchers felt that the small individual whole-body doses of radiation reported for these four participants made the association with ionizing radiation tenuous, although they felt that ionizing radiation was the only unusual risk factor for this population that they could identify. I don’t know of any more current studies validating or discrediting this suggested finding in the literature. We have tried to incorporate the evaluation of radiological exposures in ATSDR/CDC’s current investigation of PV and other MPDs in NE PA, but do not yet have results to share from this ongoing work unfortunately. Shannon, I would be very glad to add you to our contact list to share results when they are available, if that sounds good to you?
I am also very glad to discuss this further to try to make better sense than I can in an email, please just let me know if you’d like to talk.
Personal Response from Individual at EPA to help Shannon – Posted here without names.
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